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Indi server status confusion

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I am running the Astroberry Server (latest version with Kstars 3.5.0) on an Rpi 4 at the telescope with all the equipment attached there on a powered hub. I 'log' into the astroberry using a browser on a laptop in my garage, over an ethernet connection from the rpi to my home router. I begin by going to the left hand side of the screen and open up that side panel, select the profiles option, setup or select my current profile and then hit 'start.' Which, as I understand would start the Indi server (not connect to the equipment). II then go to Kstars/Ekos, select my equipment profile and click on the "Start" Icon. After doing that I get a message that there is already an existing instance of the Indi server running, do I want to shut that down now or not. So the first question is "do I or don't I?" If I say "no" then I continue to connect to the equipment and the "server" in the left side panel is still running and offers the option only to "stop". If I say "yes" to the first question, I still get to connect to the equipment in the Indi control panel AND the left panel STILL has the option only to "STOP" the Indi Server.

If I don't use the left panel then I do NOT get that message and I assume the server is started within Kstars/Ekos. Thus if Kstars crashes the server crashes and any wifi connections to the server are lost. Since I connect to the Rpi using an ethernet connection to my main home router, does it really matter to me whether I start the server in the left side panel or in Kstars/Ekos?

So what (please remind me once again) the reason for using the left panel to start the Indi Server, rather than just having it start in Kstars/Ekos.

thanks,
Ron
3 years 3 months ago #64529

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Replied by Adrian on topic Indi server status confusion

I do not have the astroberry server here, so I am not sure what the panel on the left is.
Unless someone else comments who uses astroberry, you could post a screen shot of the `left panel'.

In any case your rpi4 is connected to your equipment so it is best to run the indiserver there.
The indiserver on the rpi4 can be started in many ways
- from the terminal with a commnad eg. indiserver -v driver1 driver2 driver 3 etc.
- from something like the webmanger
- from kstars by getting kstars to run the indiserver.

Because kstars is telling you that the server is already running, you should NOT shut down the running indiserver but just connect to it.

The advantage of having the indiserver running on the rpi4 first is that you can run kstars on your laptop and connect to the indiserver
on the rpi4 without running kstars on the rpi4. Your laptop may be faster and you may use a second screen etc with it instead of using a
remote desktop connection to your kstars running on the rpi4.

Hope this explains it for you.

Kind regards
3 years 3 months ago #64597

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Thanks, I was pretty sure that was what I needed to do and how it works. If you watch the first minute or so of this: Astroberry Server Tutorial you will see what the panel on the left side looks like and how it is used. What I am not quite sure of is what is the difference between starting the server from that left panel (outside of Kstars/Ekos) or from inside Kstars/Ekos when you run them, if everything is connected to and running on that local Rpi? The server runs in the background in either case (I believe), so that if Kstars/Ekos crashes (and I don't need to reboot the Rpi), then the server is still running and I can just start up Kstars/Ekos again, connect the equipment and pick up where I left off. But I am not sure of that. I think the original reason for the server was for when you have your equipment connected to the Rpi, but you are running Kstar/Ekos on a remote machine (like a laptop). Then if Kstar/Ekos crashes the Rpi is somewhat oblivious to that fact and the server is still running (I don't know if it will continue imaging jobs already started or not).

I really feel bad about being confused on this, because I have been using Kstars/Ekos for three or four years now! I do see the advantage of just running the server on the Rpi at the equipment and running Kstars/Ekos on a laptop remotely. It is likely faster and as I said a Kstars crash does not affect the Rpi. And I have gone back an forth, running my system both ways over the years. I currently have upgraded to an Rpi 4 with 8 Gb Ram and have it booting from a 240 Gb SSD, which I connect to just from a browser window from the laptop in the garage (warmer and bugless). My reason is "Why Not!" the expense of that equipment is minimal (relatively speaking) and there is gain in transfer speed both for the Rpi and my cameras (all connected on a powered USB 3.0 hub). So I seem to be committed to running everything on the local Rpi and as long as everything hums along I see no reason not to.

So maybe my confusion is illusionary, just because of the complexity of the software. There have been several upgrades in my time frame with Kstars/Ekos and by trying to keep up with them I have lost track of where I am at!

So I agree, if I have already started the server (either from the left panel or from a command line entry) then there is no reason to shut it down and start a new instance, just enter "no" at that question ; that may be the default (it defaults to one or the other in a few seconds, so I have to go back and check what the default is).

thanks,
Ron
3 years 3 months ago #64613

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Ok, so I am answering my own question. I followed my own advice and went back and watched that tutorial. When he gets to the part of running his equipment profile in Ekos he makes a passing remark about starting it as remote instead of local (it is a checkbox in the profile edit box in Ekos) (note: he makes this remark because he went thru the procedure of starting the Indi Server - in the left side panel - before starting Kstars/Ekos). Both use the "localhost" because both are running on the same machine, but if you hover the mouse over those boxes it says, use "local" if you are starting the indi server from inside Kstars/Ekos and use "remote" if you are starting the Indi server from the web manager or other method outside of Kstars/Ekos. I have had the "local" box checked because I (reasonably or not) thought that my system was local as everything was connected to it right at the telescope, but I should have checked the "remote" box because the Indi Server is 'remote' from Kstars/Ekos. If I check the "remote" box and still leave the connection to "Local Host," then when I "Start" the profile in Ekos that question never comes up!

thanks,
Ron
3 years 3 months ago #64614

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My take / experience - The Astroberry panels (left hand side browser screen) start the Indiserver on the machine as addressed in the browser( DNS/Hosts or IP). So normally this is a remote machine but can if you start the browser on the remote machine, via say VNC, and input 127.0.0.1 then the Indiserver is started,if using Panels, on the "Local" machine.

OK thats daft i hear you say - well not entirely if you dont use Kstars/Ekos or dont use/load the GUI desktop on the remote machine as this still enables you to start your indiserver with the correct "Astroberry" profile (and connect / start/restart via the left Panel in you browser. Not using the Linux Desktop saves resources if you wish to use something like CCDCIEL or CDC(remotely) which will happily talk to 1 or many Indiservers at the same time.

However if you use Kstars/Ekos then as soon as you choose a profile and connect etc Ekos see's Indiserver is already running hence the message you get so long as the profiles match there shouldn't be a problem and you can answer YES to use the existing Indiserver as Kstars/Ekos should just connect to the drivers already loaded so long as the drivers chosen in the profiles are the same.

Last time I asked Radek I think he said the profiles(Ekos/Astroberry panels) were completely separate but this may have changed.

One could argue rightly,in my view, that it would make more sense,if you are to use Kstars/Ekos on the remote machine via VNC, just to start Indiserver from Kstars/Ekos on the remote machine (the one you are VNC'ing too) and not use Astroberry Panels to select and start a profile/Indiserver.

Radek will correct the assumptions that are incorrect - though most are based on actual usage :-)
RPI3 Ubuntu 16.04 / AMD desktop Kstars under Ubuntu 16.04 Mounts :azeq6 ,SWAZGoTo

RPI3 Fedora testing out on AMD desktop Fedpra 28 - running kstars 2.9.4 , Indilib 1.7.4 ?????
3 years 3 months ago #64632

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Replied by Adrian on topic Indi server status confusion

Thanks for posting the link to the video, astro berry looks interesting.

The left panel shows him starting indiserver using Indi web manager. Indi web manager runs on a different port to indiserver and is used to start the indiserver instead of using a terminal or a script etc. You can also connect to indiwebmanager from another pc on the network to avoid using ssh from a terminal or a remote desktop client, vnc etc.

Then he uses Kstars/ekos to connect to the indiserver as remote, the selection in Kstars between remote and local is slightly misleading. It all depends on what you mean by local and remote.

If you select local Kstars will start the indiserver for you on the machine Kstars is running on.

If you select remote Kstars will connect to an already running indiserver which is anywhere on the network including on the same machine. For the same machine you can use the address localhost or 127.0.0.1 or the ip4 address 192.168.178.50 or astrberry.local (if avahi is running)
3 years 3 months ago #64641

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Replied by Adrian on topic Indi server status confusion

Thanks for posting the link to the video, astro berry looks interesting.

The left panel shows him starting indiserver using Indi web manager. Indi web manager runs on a different port to indiserver and is used to start the indiserver instead of using a terminal or a script etc. You can also connect to indiwebmanager from another pc on the network to avoid using ssh from a terminal or a remote desktop client, vnc etc.

Then he uses Kstars/ekos to connect to the indiserver as remote, the selection in Kstars between remote and local is slightly misleading. It all depends on what you mean by local and remote.

If you select local Kstars will start the indiserver for you on the machine Kstars is running on.

If you select remote Kstars will connect to an already running indiserver which is anywhere on the network including on the same machine. For the same machine you can use the address localhost or 127.0.0.1 or the ip4 address 192.168.178.50 or astrberry.local (if avahi is running)
3 years 3 months ago #64642

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